'It's a very personal project': Memorial posters features Edmonton soldiers who served in wars

A poster campaign is creating awareness commemorating Edmonton-area soldiers who never came home.

Joe MacDonald, the founder of “Our Heroes, Our Heritage”, helped put up hundreds of posters along 100 Avenue for the campaign, honouring Canadian soldiers and their stories after being sent to war.

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MacDonald says the name of the campaign, 'Have You Seen My Son?' holds personal significance to the University of Alberta student.

"The project took quite a few weeks to actually do. To do the research, find the photographs of guys and write the stories behind what happened to them … It's a very personal project," said MacDonald on Monday.

"My great grandfather was one of the Canadians that fought at Vimy Ridge in 1917 and although he came home, he was badly mustard gassed, and he died when my grandfather was only two years old," he added.

According to MacDonald, there are around 200 posters downtown, around 300 at City Hall and nearly 100 at the Prince of Wales Armory, which was home to the Loyal Edmonton Regiment for years.

Among the hundreds of posters, there are 100 unique soldiers featured.A 'Have You Seen My Son?' poster tells the story of an Edmonton soldier who went to war and never returned. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton)"When you look at the poster … the first phrase is 'Have you seen my son' or 'Have you seen my dad?' … What we're trying to do is honor their memory through this project," said MacDonald.

He said many of the soldiers were only 20 years old or younger, with some being as young as 16 years old when they went to war.

"There are countless other Canadians and Edmontonians, people in our own communities who have been greatly touched by the wars, not just the first or the second war, but also more, more recent wars," he said.

Retired Lt.-Col. Hans Brink, who is on the board of directors of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment Military Museum, said he's amazed by MacDonald's findings to get the project started.

"If people walk around and see hundreds of posters, then it gives them an idea that there were hundreds of people – thousands of people – that did not come home from either the first second world war," Brink said.

"It just brings it home and makes people more aware, gets them to think about it. So I think (MacDonald's) efforts and his campaign are significant," he added.

MacDonald and a group of volunteers will begin taking down the posters on Tuesday, but hopes to grow the project and see it in other places.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha.